Touch starts season with warm up matches

The Cook Islands Touch Association 2016 season kicked off with pre-season warm-up matches at Nikao Field on Monday afternoon.

Two women’s open matches, which allowed players to brush off the cobwebs before the season proper starts next week, were played.

In the opening match, defending champions Bounty Hunters went off to a blazing start beating FBI 5-4.

In a tit-for-tat battle, both teams showed glimpses of pace and sublime skills to start their seasons on a high note.

In the other match, Team Ace turned out in full force to overpower Nukz Power 4-2.

Nukz Power made a steady start but are sure to come back fired up next week.

“The muster was welcomed by the team managers as they buzzed around sorting their players and waiting on others to arrive to kick off for their much-anticipated games,” association president Daphne Brown said.

“Already the women’s competition is promising to be the one to watch. All teams boast a mixture of national and former reps and younger up-and-coming touch players.

“The spread of players is suggesting an even competition open to any team to take out the finals.”